Royalty Pharma PLC $RPRX Stake Cut by Kearns & Associates LLC

Kearns & Associates LLC cut its holdings in shares of Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX) by 17.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 58,240 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 12,500 shares during the period. Royalty Pharma accounts for approximately 1.5% of Kearns & Associates LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Kearns & Associates LLC’s holdings in Royalty Pharma were worth $2,794,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Royalty Pharma by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 172,418 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,662,000 after acquiring an additional 24,048 shares during the last quarter. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. purchased a new position in shares of Royalty Pharma during the fourth quarter worth $4,923,000. Regal Partners Ltd lifted its position in Royalty Pharma by 6.7% during the third quarter. Regal Partners Ltd now owns 1,435,126 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $50,631,000 after purchasing an additional 89,930 shares during the period. Qsemble Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Royalty Pharma during the fourth quarter valued at $2,875,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Royalty Pharma by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 812,663 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $31,604,000 after purchasing an additional 36,664 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.35% of the company’s stock.

Royalty Pharma Stock Down 2.0%

RPRX opened at $54.24 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $52.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $46.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.90, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.43. Royalty Pharma PLC has a fifty-two week low of $34.08 and a fifty-two week high of $56.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 2.66.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.08. Royalty Pharma had a net margin of 33.88% and a return on equity of 29.25%. The business had revenue of $630.58 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $881.69 million. On average, research analysts expect that Royalty Pharma PLC will post 5.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Royalty Pharma Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Royalty Pharma’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on RPRX shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Royalty Pharma from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Royalty Pharma from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Weiss Ratings lowered Royalty Pharma from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Royalty Pharma in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Royalty Pharma from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $53.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at Royalty Pharma

In other news, CFO Terrance P. Coyne sold 64,399 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.98, for a total transaction of $3,476,258.02. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Marshall Urist sold 13,684 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.75, for a total value of $721,831.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 18,197 shares in the company, valued at $959,891.75. This trade represents a 42.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 164,394 shares of company stock valued at $8,498,892. Company insiders own 18.84% of the company’s stock.

Royalty Pharma Profile

Royalty Pharma plc is a specialty finance company that acquires biopharmaceutical royalty interests and provides non-dilutive financing to drug developers and rights holders. The firm purchases future royalty streams, milestone-contingent payments and other revenue rights linked to approved and late-stage pharmaceutical and biotechnology products. By paying upfront consideration for these rights, Royalty Pharma seeks to generate long-term cash flows tied to the commercial performance of a diversified portfolio of medicines.

The company’s transaction structures include outright royalty purchases, structured financings and milestone arrangements tailored to the needs of innovator companies, academic institutions and investors.